Food service system and means therefor



Feb. 16, 1954 F. 1'. HILLIKER FOOD SERVICE SYSTEM AND MEANS THEREFOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 4, 1952 Feb. 16, 1954 F, T, |KE|'\ 2,669,323

FOOD SERVICE SYSTEM AND MEANS THEREFOR Filed Aug. 4, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 F. T. HILLIKER 3 sheets-sheet :s

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JNVENTOR. FRANK T. HILLIKER Aria/wif Feb. 16, 1954 Econ sERvIcE SYSTEM AND MEANS THEREEOR Filed Aug. 4, 1952 EzSn E4 A4 m nm E oo@@Looeooooooo@@@@oooooom Patented Feb. 1 6, --1954 F001) SElWIc-:ELSYSTEM AND MEANS Y 'LHEREEORL Tf." ls'nliker,v St; Louis', Mos, assigner to The Fointro'rr Corporation,

Applicatiomaogusm, wsasorial.Noleaozisaa (or: 18e-1) invention. relates; in general-filo. certain new" andusefull improvements inlfodv rservicev systenis" and means therefor; Y

At .the present'time, a great many restaurants seat' the customers attables and' employ wait-'- rsses: totake the. orders andserve 'the fod systemisp..ofiooursezI expensive andtimee consuming; Ciisedent1y` the coinft'er-servi'c'evv system nas: beenwidely adopted 'as' beine: condsivl'tdlfri'i "in Siivice ofthe customer at l'ss'` overhead costy to thev proprietor. Soda fountains and so.ca11ed lunch counters exemplify this'- latter' type of system, but usually requires that all. foon and. drinks be prepared' by' the d ntl" attendants" ir the immdiate Vicinityof the" customer being` served; li'its'tii'e scp'eothe ln'enl'Which can' be' served' ldl'vi'ref the lv'el'lge' S'Oda-jl's' Ilo chef', the quality' of. fodlprepa'ration and cleanlinessA ordinarily suffer.` occasionally a modiedform of eountnservieefsystem snstall'ed' withA a; fairly complete' al'ldl'vvll'v sta'i'edA ktclento lerlnitv service'o'f better' f'od-frorn` more' complete and: attractive. menus; Thus far; however; such' eil forts nave resulted in more ineinoient and less profitable operation. because thel` counter attendente' mustA constantly travel between the f' k-Ijll'f,tinf iflld"` c'iistfn'eI"servit-iii'TA alea'IS j t as. intne'elassloal"sitidown type ofresta'urant witnrtre serions Afurtherv tage of being. onned in movement" to'thelnarrow area ljeh'iiidY the counter; Inu`1`ti)p'le-personY trayservic'e `recornes virtually im'possible'',V so that?. the counter-attendant is for tl'ie rnostY part', required to'. make and frequently several,..trips for each customer carrying asmall number of' items on'. eac'lit'rip.

In fact,A it. is' usually` necessary townte u'p the.

the kitchen for preparation; After` an.interval, a Second t'rip to the kitchen is required to pick up. the order'- and serve it the customer. U'pion supercial f consideration. itfwo'u'ld seem that` the! counter-attendant could' deposit a later written. check While pickingfup an order. previously turned" The rate' of''ow-of.incoming` orders is ordinarily` faster than the. rate off flW offinished. orders coming out.` ofthe.. kitchen, with. the. result. that the. customer is. forced` to: wait" for. a substantial...

ryig.. Thus',order.rto. achieve any reasonale..

degree' of'prot-makng turnover, it isnecessary This. practice' rigidly disadven- In addition.

atj least one,

2,. toemploy ay large .number of. counter#atter'nzlantsy in.a.. kitchen-serviceds establishment.-y of-I any ap preciaJl'ev size. rEhe. overhead cost, however in 'so doingis rather high.. andfor. that reasonysuch systems have. not. been.. markedlyf sucoessfulnr` profitable..

Itis, therefore, thev primary object of. thelpres ent. invention. to providea foodl service. system. andi. means. therefor in which the.. customers. areseatedl along.. one:or more elongated. counters,. which.. are. subdivided.. into, a .series of. stations. each having identical equipment for servicing. the. customers. with. drinks andliquidfod and allbeing operatively connected to akitchenarea at. onev end. ofthe. counter; by a. series. of.' writtenmessage transmitting., devices andi. by a. dual.' run conveyorv belt. extending.; substantially the. entire. length ofi the counter. withmeans for stopping-f thevariousfod orders-at. or adjacent. tothe sta.- tion from\which.theordel;l originated;

It is. another olj'ectbof the presentA invention to providea foodservice. system and-means.there-l for which. provides. unusually closea fully ine.-I chanical' liaison between thev customer-service area andthe kitchen areaso.that a large num kier-"of` customers: can be served ecientlyi ina' relatively' short" space of time,I with. the. result" that" the rate ol"4 customer turn-over.A extremel'yf high for. an'installation of. givensize as compared' with conventonallihstallations of the same physi. cali. size; and'l comparable cost...

Ity i's a further object of'V the. present inven tion. to provide meansY for transporting. food; orders` fromthe' kitchen area to the customer.-

service area under unusuallysanitary conditionsv wherein. the foodli's. covereduntil' the moment. itl

servedY toi the. customer.

It amadditional. object of. the present.. in vention. to; provide a. foodservice: system. and. means therefor. necessitating aesmaller. number of employees in. the customer-service: area. than. isfordinarily required infconventionatfood service,-v

systems;

With; thel above anda otherV objects viewi. my/knvention residesi in :thee novel.` features.oft form; construction; :anraneremently and combina-- -tiol'i'fv of vparts presently described and. pointedl.

outin theT claims;

n' the accomnanyingv drawing (3"'sheetsr- Figure 1a"- and" 1b`` together' constitute a: top-1. plan view of apreferred form of" food'. service?- system constructed in accordance with ancient,`

lla'odying'lA the present' invention;

Figures 2, 3, and 4 are fragmentary transverse sectional views taken along lines 2 2, 3 3, and 4 4, respectively, of Figure la;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken along line 5 5 of Figure 1b;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken along line 6 6 of Figure 2;

Figures 7 and 8 are fragmentary transverse sectional views taken along lines 1 1 and 8 8, respectively, of Figure 3; and

Figures 9 and l0 are schematic wiring diagrams of the electrical connections forming a part of the present invention.

Referring now in more detail and by reference characters to the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention, A designates the kitchen area and B designates the customer-service area of an elongated restaurant or lunchroom having a continuous back wall I. The kitchen area A and customer-service area B are preferably separated by a partition wall 2 having a doorway 3 and a belt-passage window or aperture 4. Although, as shown in the drawings, the food service system is adapted for installation within a long narrow room or store building having a second longitudinal side wall I', it should be understood that this system can be installed in a larger store area, such as a retail department store sales oor or super-market, with the attendant elimination of the portion of the side wall I which extends across the customer-service area. Instead a railing or a series of counters could be employed to define the customer-service area or, for that matter, the area could be entirely open so as to be completely accessible from all points of the sales oor.

Mounted against, and extending longitudinally along, the back wall I substantially throughout the length of the customer-service area B is a back bar 5 consisting of a horizontal shelfforming top member 6 and front apron 1 extending vertically from the under side of the top member 6 downwardly to the floor. The back bar 5 is, in eiect, subdivided into four stations of equal length and each station is identically equipped with conventional dish storage wells 8, 8b, 8G, an eye-level food display cabinet 9, and a telautograph sender I0. Mounted upon the floor in outwardly spaced relation to the back bar 5 is a customer-service counter II extending substantially for the full length of the customerservice area, and at its forward end (reference being made to the right-hand end of Figure lb) is curved inwardly toward the back bar 5. Along its front face, the counter II is provided with a series of uniformly spaced stools or seats I2 upon which the customers may seat themselves. The counter I l is so arranged as to accommodate approximately eleven to fourteen stools for each station. The reverse or interior face of the counter I I is lined with four duplicate soda fountain units consisting of dispensing faucets I3, I4, for ice water and carbonated water, respectively, a series of syrup-dispensing units I5, and a plurality of refrigerated ice-cream cabinets I6. The dish wells 8a., 8b, 8, the display cabinets 9, the telautograph sender I0, the faucets I3, I4, the syrupdispensing units I5, and the ice-cream cabinets I6 are all conventional components and, therefore, are not separately or individually described.

Mounted upon, and extending longitudinally along, the front apron I of the back bar 5 and extending downwardly from the top member 6 are two vertically spaced parallel conveyor troughs I'I, I8, each having flat horizontal bottom walls I9, 20, and short upstanding front or curb-walls gin of a horizontal slot or opening 4I 2l, 22, respectively. At their forward ends, the conveyor troughs I'I, I8, are fixed to the side wall 23 of a rectilinear enclosed roller box 24, which is supported from the floor upon legs 25 and has a sump-forming bottom section 26 extending downwardly below the plane of the lower conveyor trough I8 and connected by means of a waste pipe `2'I to a sewer connection (not shown). The side wall 23 is provided with elongated rectangular slots 28, 29, respectively located just above the bottom walls I9, 29, of the conveyor troughs I1, I8. The roller box 24 is interiorly provided with a pair of vertically spaced transversely extending idler rollers 39, 3I, the upper roller 30 being tangential along its top surface to the plane of the bottom wall I9 and the lower roller 3I being similarly tangential along its bottom surface to the' plane of the bottom wall 20 of the trough I8. Also mounted on the side wall 23 just above the opening or slot 28 and extending into the roller box 24 is a limit switch 32 having an exteriorly extending contact plunger 33 biased outwardly by means of a compression spring 34. Similarly mounted upon the side wall 23 over the opening or slot 29 is a spray pipe 35 conventionally connected by means of a pipe elbow 36 to a water pressure line 3l. The spray pipe is provided with a plurality of spray apertures for forming a thin curtain-like water spray which is directed outwardly and downwardly toward the bottom wall 29 of the conveyor trough The conveyor troughs I1, I8, extend rearwardly through the opening 4 in the partition wall 2 and across the kitchen area Ak along the front face of a back-counter 38. As the oonveyor troughs I'I, I8, pass through the aperture 4, they are deflected upwardly for a substantial distance, so that the lower conveyor trough I8 will gradually come up to table top height and is thus provided with a horizontal terminal portion 39 which is level with a dish scraping table 40. At its extreme rearward end, the conveyor trough I'I is rigidly secured along the lower marformed in the side wall 42 oi' a roller box 43. Similarly, at its extreme rearward end, the conveyor trough I8 is rigidly secured along the lower margin of a horizontal slot or opening 44 formed in the side wall 45 of a scrubber-housing 46, which is, in turn, secured upon the wall 42 of the roller box 43 and opens thereinto through a slot 41. Interiorly the scrubber-housing 46 is provided with a removable catch-pan 48 and pairs of opposed flexible scraper blades 49, spray pipes 50, and wiper-brushes 5 l.

operatively mounted within the roller box 43 are three idler rollers 52, 53, 54, and a main driving roller 55, the latter being connected by a belt 56 to the pulley'l' of a motor 58, which is supported from the floor by a frame 59 and is connected to a source of electric power through four photo-electric relays 60 which are in series with each other and the limit switch 32, as shown in Figure 9.

necessarily, `an optical system 68 is interposed gesmeed between thealight souree 62- and? the opening. 8T fonconcentratingi the light into afocused. beam which passes outwardly; through'. the.y open-ing.'v 61;

nefphoto-ele'etriorelay; 60is loca-ted` atY each station and is slidably mountedfinvertical.guides nuponzthe rear faceof the, apron; 1: of the.l back' bar 5 and is adjustablyheldin-position by a verti' cal adjustment screw extending throughthe top member'G-@andfalsolay-locking screws 1| extendingthrough thefguides.- 69.'.v ItWill-,rof-course-,w be evident: that. thef apron '|-r isf provided, withl conventional' escutch'eon/y platesy 13` for decorai tively= -nishing: the margins-lof I the.i aperturesVM 12;

polishedfplanar; reilector, Ik angledi insuch af. manner *as` toreiiect theflight :beam from :theflight source 62: off the associated:photo-electric.I relay? 60 back into the photocell thereofi Extendingl slidably along the bottom-.walls I9., 28; ofthe conveyor troughsIl; |.8, and: around. the rollers 30, 31, 52;,.53`,=1.54',155,- for/movement.; the. direction shownV byf arrowsf in- Figuresf 4v aridtlA isa continuous conveyorrbelt 12, thef lower run of" which is trained between the scraper bladesflli),` the sprays'l 50;, the wiper-brushes 5|,.

and., beneaththe sprayfromthe spray piper35. lvlmintedY over the topfrunoff the4 conveyorxbelt 1.5,fjustas-sitiemerges fromfthezopening 4 is alighthoodl 'I6 having a downwardly directed ultravioletgs'teriliza-tion lamp 'H-,thefhood 1B' being so arrangedthatuthe raysvfrom thelarnpA 'l1 areiat; aHftimeSF-shieldedfrontlie eyes ofthe Workers and customers;y

Located adj acent:to'ftheconveyorsbelt:15 ,within theikit'cherrarea Afis al. double-"sidedzor' duplicate-fv station food: preparationA tables. 'I8 conventionally equipped with toasters,v` ovens; sandwich grills,.

and' similar' cooking par'fap'hernaliavV (not shown)-l Alsoflooated adjacentto'the rearrendio'ffthe conveyori belt. 'I5y is` the previouslyi mentioned U -shaped .dish v-scr'aping.-.I table?v 40, whichlf includes f aocentralY section l8f! alongv the. lowerrun:y of the conveyor 15. andfspaceddateral sections 8|; 82;. extending outwardly from the opposite ends-5' thereof.l The central section: 88-isprovidediwith al; conventional refus'eescraper. 83T' and@i thee lzniver.A

run of theconveyorbeltf;.inathisregionppassesi. beneath an arcuatt'elyfl angled deflector-fbaille586;'.l so that :dishes :being: carried: back ".tol'tlie kitchen. Y area Ar will. be-` automatically 'pushed-1 oi i onto'. the

cent-ral section.' 80' of the dish-scraping; table 79.

A glassware washingl sinks` 85J4 is; located.: the'v lateral section; 8| andl atunn'ehtype' dishwasher: 86.4is loeatediny the-lateral .-section7 82. The table-A ware; when washedE and dry,- is stored in suitable shelfetiers`A 81', v 8'8, directly.- accessible fto the workers-around the food preparationstablel; Also located in direct proximity toA the'.v food preparation: table 18 is a telautograph' receiver 89` connected tothe-.several telautograph senders?. I0 in Vsuch a manner that it can receivefmessagesfrom.

each ofthem'.

Provided yfor co-opera'tion:With'uther conveyor,Y beltf'lS is a plui-alityfofl hollowfplastic'food-*covers" peripherally 'over' and around.r

9914 adaptedto fit. the," food-laden plates: 9| and ride".v4 directlyfupon; the rbelt 15, as shown inFigure 3; Th1`1s2`the food f tive-` stations.

6. hundredzoff each size: Furthermore;eachszfis made.: in. af diierentcol`or,1.y ea clear,r bluevred and yellow. Itr willbe obvious that the fourrdii-j ferent sizes correspond to'th'e four stations and they vertical height of the photo relays 60 arerset s'othat the: cover 9|) of. lowest height will pass fully:A beneath the. light beamsy of the rstlthr photo-electric 'Y relays 6|)y in successive: order from"v the openingf l4 forwardly; The.` nexthighery cover will interrupt the light beam' of thefthird! phot'oeleotric relay 60, the nexthigher coverin successive. order will interrupt the light-beaml of: the-.secondphotoeelectric relay 60, and,. nallyg. the highest cover will interrupt. the lightbeaii'l? of: theffirst:photoeelectric relay 60. As will bei observed-"by reference to Figures!) andlO, interi# ruption-.o'f any ofv theflightfbeams from anyrone of the: photo-electricK rela-ys 68 will causf the motor'58fand belt 'I5 to stop until the-obstrcl# tion is`- removed.

In.v serving. the: customers; onev counter=emiployee isa-ssigned toeach station and can place: silverware, paper napkins, and ice water in front: of eachl customer as the' customer sits down; When the customer is. ready to give his order,

the counter-employee. can write the order on-.ah

customer-check and immediately thereafter copy' the order on the telauto'graph-sender Il);l Thev order is thusv electronically transmitted. toit-hef vkitchen and isr immediately made up; If this:

particular order was given atstation II, for: ex ample; thefood order when placed on' thepla't'e:y will be covered with a food-cover- 9|), the'heightl" dimension .t of which is second in order of' if height.- Thiscover may,;for`example, beof. red

color. Thus, as thefplate-is-conveyed. outwardly,

from the kitchen' area A along'theback bar 5, itz:

will pass stations III and IV without stoppage. The counter-employee at stationILwho is busy servingl other customers; will of` course,V occa-'- sionally turn around in the Vnormal course" of lierv duties, so that shecan see the conveyor belt 15 and, because of its color, will be conscious that a: food order intended for.l one ofA her customersisy on its way. Consequently,` she will be prepared to remove itfrom the conveyor belt almost immediatelyafter it arrives at her station and,vthere# fore,thefbelt. 75 will be stopped only for an insta-nt.v If another customer meanwhile' has:

seated himself at another stationv and the-lcounter-'employee at that station has taken his order, such order will also be transmitted to the kitchen by telautograph and the food order with its appropriate cover 9D will be placed on -ther conveyor belt 15 next in order.

If this second customer has seated himself at station 1 for. example, andthe covers for station I are blue in` color, the counter-employee at stationI will simi-f larly be abletoobserve that a food order for her station ison its way also. When the first food order previously mentioned comes to rest atstation II, theentire belt 15 Will, of course,. stopv and.v all successiveffood orders will also remain: stationary momentarily,` but the minute thisfoodv order with the red cover is removed by the. count` er-employee at `station forward.- It will loe-evident that the food orders will stop the. belt upon arrival at their respec- 'I'hisintermittent movement of.E the'beltis entirely satisfactory because, in practice, the stoppage is only momentarily and the' ordersl for any one station are not appreciably delayed by'ordersfor any other station.

Asfsoonfasy aF|` customer" has; finished a r'n'eal;l

II, the belt will resume.. its movement'. and the other orders will travel.v

the dirty dishes can be removed from the counter Il and placed on the lower or return run of the conveyor belt 15. It will be noted that the food coming out of the kitchen rides on one face of the belt 15 and the dirty dishes returning to the kitchen ride on the opposite face of the belt 15. Furthermore, the belt 15 is thoroughly cleansed as it passes through the scrubber-housing 46 and is sterilized as it passes beneath the sterilization lamp 11.

The dirty dishes, upon return to the kitchen area A, are automatically deflected by the deflector-baiile 34 from the conveyor belt 15 upon the dish-scraping table 19 and can be distributed by a, single employee to the dish-washing tunnel 86 and glassware washing sink 8e. The dish- Washing and scraping phase of the operation can thus be handled -eiciently by two employees. It has also been found desirable to employ one or two bus boys to carry various supplies to the several customer-service stations. The combination of visually diierentiable colors for the foodcovers 9e and the variations in height thereof, which cause the photo-electric relays et to operate, achieves an extremely eihcient, rapid method of food delivery from the kitchen service area A, making it possible to serve an unusually large number of customers in a relatively short space of time. Furthermore, the elimination of the hurrying and scurrying of waitresses to and from the kitchen area, as encountered in conventional restaurants, creates an atmosphere of calm quietude which is conducive to the ease and comfort of the customer. As a result, 'the customer may enter the restaurant, be seated, give his order, be served, and depart in a surprisingly short space of time without ever feeling hurried or rushed.

It should be understood that changes and inodifications in the form, construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of the food service system and means therefor may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A food service system for use in a restaurant-like establishment having a kitchen area and a customer-service area, said system cornprising an elongated counter having a plurality oi seats for accornrnodatingr customers, said counter and seats being arranged in a series of stations, a back bar mounted in rearwardly spaced parallel relation to the counter, a complete set of fountain-service equipment at each station, a continuous belt conveyor extending from the kitchen area outwardly into the customer-service area past each station for conveying plates of prepared food to the stations, drive means for driving said belt conveyor, a light source at each station for directing a beam of light across said conveyor in upwardly spaced relation thereto, the beam at any given station passed by the conveyor as it moves from the kitchen area being spaced from the conveyor a smaller distance than any beam already passed by the conveyor and a greater' distance than any succeeding beam, an electric eye at each station in position to receive the light beam at such station and being connected with said drive means to stop said conveyor when the light beam does not fall on the electric eye, and plate covers of diilerent heights adapted to overlie the plates of food advanced by said conveyor, the height of a cover placed over a plate of food intended for a given station being such that the light beam at the given station will be broken by the cover upon the arrival of the cover at the given station and being such that the cover will pass under any light beam preceding the light beam at the given station in the direction or advance of the con- Veyor.

2. A food service system for use in a restaurant-like establishment having a kitchen area and a customer-service area, said system comprising an elongated counter having a plurality oi' seats ior accommodating customers, said counter and seats being arranged in a series of stations, a back bar mounted in rearwardly spaced parallel relation to the counter, electric means for transmitting iood orders from each station to the kitchen area, a complete set of fountain-service equipment at each station, a continuous belt conveyor extending irorn the kitchen area outwardly into the customer-service area past each station for conveying plates of prepared food to the stations, drive means for driving said belt conveyor, a light source at each station for directing a beam of light across said conveyo' in upwardly spaced relation thereto, the beam at any given station passed by the conveyor as it moves from the kitchen area being spaced from the conveyor a smaller distance than any beam already passed by the conveyor and a greater distance than any succeeding beam, an electric eye at each station in position to receive the light beam at such station and being connected with said drive means to stop said conveyor when the light beam does not fall on the electric eye, and plate covers of diierent heights adapted to overlie theplates of food advanced by said conveyor, the height of a cover placed over a plate of food intended for a given station being such that the light beam at the given station will be broken by the cover upon the arrival of the cover at the given station and being such that the cover will pass under any light beam preceding the light beam at the given station in the direction oi advance of the conveyor.

3. A food service system for use in a restaurant-like establishment having a kitchen area and a customer-service area, said system cornprising an elongated counter having a plurality of seats for accommodating customers, said counter and seats being arranged in al series of stations, a back bar mounted in rearwardly spaced parallel relation to the counter, a oomplete set or fountain-service equipment at each station, a dish-scraping table located in the kitchen area having a waist-height working suriace, a continuous belt conveyor ezitending irom the kitchen area outwardly into the customerservice area past each station, said belt conveyor having an upper outwardly traveling horizontal run extending slightly below the top of the back bar for conveying plates of prepared food to the stations and a lower return run for carrying the used dishes back to the kitchen area, said return run being inclined angularly upwardly and rearwardly alter it enters the kitchen area until it reaches a height substantially level with the working surface of the dish-scraping table, an angularly disposed derlector baile located across the lower run of the belt conveyor in the region of the dish-scraping table ior sliding the dishes orf the belt conveyor and onto the dish-scraping table, drive means for driving said belt conveyor, `a light source at each station for directing a beam of light-across said conveyor in upwardly spaced relation thereto, the beam at any given station passed ,by the conveyor as it moves from the kitchen area being spaced from the conveyor a smaller distance than any beam already passed by the conveyor and a greater distance than any succeeding beam, an electric eye at each station in position to vreceive the light beam at such sta'- tion and being connected with said drive means to stop said fconveyor when the iight beam does not fall onthe electric eye, and plate covers Qf different heights adapted to overlie the plates-fof. food advanced by said conveyor, the height qi a cover placed over a plate of food intended 1561 a given station being such that the light beam at the givenfstation will be broken by the cover upon the arrival of the cover at the given station and being such that the cover will pass under any light beam preceding the light beam at the Conveyor.

FRANK T. HILLIKER.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date f Doyle Oct. 2, 1900 Vary et al. July 27, 1915 McGlaughlin Nov. 30, 1920 Hall Mar. 12, 1929 St. John July 30, 1929 Starks July 5, 1932 Olson Oct. 11. 1932 Worrall Nov. 28, 1933 Delucchi Aug. 6, 1946 Alverez May 16, 1950 

